Beaker with Frontal Figures

This beaker was created by an artist of the Lambayeque culture of Peru's north coast. It features a figure with comma-shaped eyes holding staffs, symbols of authority. If such beakers were used in life—that is, not created exclusively for the lavish tombs in which they have been found in quantities—they may have figured in feasting events that were central to late pre-Hispanic political, social, and religious life.